Ohh I so love the interactive ones! I stayed on focus pretty much throughout, but my mind tried to distract me with the following: "Are your eyes actually closed? Whoops, you got that number wrong. Don't you have dinner now? Got that number wrong again. Oh, the phone rings? Nah, just a distraction." I got to 55, although I'm not sure whether it was actually 65😅 brilliant as always Daniel, thank you!
Thoughts: "Should I slow down my counting a bit? I should probably relax a bit more to simulate relaxing for sleep. Should I remain sitting up, or lean back in my chair? Have I miscounted or repeated numbers (like jumping from 49 back to 40 rather than moving on to 50)? Hmm. I don't think so. I wonder if I should stand up. I've been sitting much of the day. Funny how I don't think of that as much when I am just going about my day. Am I just repeating the question mechanically, without really meaning it? How can I check it when my eyes are closed and I am not moving? Well, I could see if my body feels right, or if my breathing feels normal, or if anything smells or sounds odd. But I don't want to get too caught up in that an lose my count. I wonder what sounds Daniel has thrown in there to distract us. Oh there's one. It will probably get more distracting yet... I'm still keeping count. I don't think I have messed up. I wonder how long it has been. Is it a gong every minute? How many gongs have I heard? Three? Four? I wonder what number I will get to. I won't worry about it, and just keep going. There haven't been as many distracting noises as I expected. It's over already? That didn't seem like 5 minutes." (I made it to 81, and don't think I messed up, despite all those thoughts flitting about.)
I was able to keep counting, but my brain definitely wanted to pay attention to certain parts of the music and a few of the noises, particularly the knocking. It's like swatting a kid's hand away from the oven when I start to get distracted to bring myself back in time. I did find that I would start to repeat the phrase without actually asking the question, like a robot. Trying to make myself actually pay attention to the question "am I dreaming?" helped to keep focus as well. Enjoying the interactive videos. Thank you!
Hello Daniel. I used to frequent your early live streams around when the whole virus thing was happening and at the time I was very on board with reintegrating lucid dream practices into my life again but it seems life has ways of letting me struggle when trying to get back into this topic which has been fascination for years at this point. I haven't a lucid dream in months, maybe longer but I have been going through your most recent videos and they are definitely helping me reacquaint myself with lucid dreaming and you've always been my go to person making content on this platform. So thank you for what you do, Daniel.
This is what happened I started off with no distractions then I was thinking about the dream I had last night. I came back to counting. Then I was thinking about how my cat pretends to bury her food when she’s done eating. Then I was still counting. Then I was thinking about how long it takes to count to ten then I was thinking about the bushes I cut this morning. Then I went back to my thoughts for the rest of the time. A bit of a run on but that’s what happened.
At the beginning of the count I wasn't sure if I should keep on counting past 10. Then I realized that was not part of the exercise, so 1- 10 was ehat it was. Even time the gong sounded, I was around the 10 mark. I expected for Daniel to start repeating numbers as a way to distract me, but that didn't happen. I found it to be very relaxing, focusing on nothing but the count and the breath. Thank you for sharing this. Yes, these interactive videos are amazing!!!
At first I counted mentally in my head, then silently out loud. And every time there was a sound, my mind would visualize it as I was counting, and move on.
I like this interactive format, because I am a believer in learning best by doing and then as we do it, getting a description of what can happen and what to do about it. I think that will make things much clearer about what needs to happen and we can learn through a practical walk-through! I'd say keep doing this! For me, I was pretty focused on the counting overall, and I feel like the music and sitting position only reinforced me to keep focusing on it, and I feel like it probably doesn't accurately reflect what my mind does during an actual attempt (would be much harder to focus then). I got to 102 doing a slow, comfortable pace. Strangely enough, I haven't done the counting technique much, and I wasn't sure whether to continuously increment or reset like every 10 or so. One slight distraction I had was a brief moment of rapid paced imagery that kept changing between several things in a short time period, kind of like REM being around the corner, except a fair bit before going to bed tonight. The imagery started about 30 seconds in. After a couple of minutes, I stopped noticing it and focusing more on the counting and music I heard. I was able to say that I was still focused during the checkpoints. I was also thinking about the possibility of repeating the "I am dreaming" becoming mindless and whether anything would need to be done about that during the counting. I'll have to double check the counting technique since I haven't really done it much (probably like 8 years ago when I last did it), but I told myself maybe checking how focused I am at interval numbers, like every 15 or something, would be a potential option to look at. Throughout, I also felt like I should have been letting go more because focus was pretty persistent and I find that generally doesn't bode well with maintained awareness attempts (for me), at least with my level of focus during this video. I'll try to look out for the stuff mentioned during actual attempts if I do try different approaches, like counting during maintained awareness attempts.
There was a fly in my room, and I was counting by visualising the numbers in my head. I then changed into a different notation system that I use for my constructed language. All this time I tried hard to not lose count whilst also trying to keep my eyes closed and deal with the fly by jolting my head, my hands, my face etc. It was difficult
Congrats on 60k!! 🎉 id like to ask a question about an experience I had: I had a dream this morning where I was talking to my mom in the kitchen and I took a wrapped sandwich out of the fridge. As I’m talking to her, I keep touching the wrapper the sandwich is in, knowing something is wrong but at first I wasn’t sure what. Then I realized-the sandwich was HOT even though I had just taken it out of the FRIDGE! I realized this didn’t make logical sense and became lucid 🎉 This never happens to me. My dreams are nonsensical all the time, but I never feel like anything is off until I wake up. I have dream signs that I know to reality check to when I encounter them but how can I make my non lucid dream self more critical overall and actually realize when stuff doesn’t make sense like this incident with the sandwich? I feel like i could unlock so many more lucid dreams if I can stop taking everything for face value in my dreams
This was great,,"73 is this a dream"..then final gong,,I managed to stayed focused but my counting slowed down as other distractions tried to grab a hold of my attention.
Distractions included - starting to go over memories (some triggered by the gong sounds), thinking about how well I'm doing with it, remembering something I forgotto do earlier and that I should remeber to do it after the video, philosophical thoughts of seeing my waking life as a dream! Overall was able to keep coming back to the task. Thanks for this video. This is useful as I've been using this technique when I wake up early in the morning.
it was a fun interactive video but i kept getting distracted the longer i tried the meditation. i have severe neckpain today and it was started two days ago but now its very intense and i was keep thinking that the pain is horrible and also have some trouble reathing regularly. i was counting at first to firtheen but then i was distracted by my neck ache (or was it the stomach part?!) and i gave up and started counting from one again. the distractions become bigger and i was more and more into the painzone so i could'nt concentrate. then the distractionsounds of a doornknob put me off guard immediately. throughout the whole interactive meditation i was telling myself of what i should write and couldn't wait to wrait about my neckpain. but the breathing i tried with the question after counting, ,"Is this a dream?!" now this was actually fun but the Not So fun part was that i couldnt concentrate with the pain i'm now having but i can watch this video again when i'm feeling better again. hopefully some good night sleeps will get my neck to heal again. anyway, these are my honest answers what i was going trough with the five minutes of "One, Is this a dream? Two, Is this a dream? three... etc)
i actually found this easy enough, as it was a clear task with a set duration that came faster than I expected. being aware all of the time requires more fortitude as there is no expected end, just a continued vigilance
I got to 147. I was pretty focused on the task and wasn't really distracted by the noises. I noticed that my apartment was slightly warm, and I've had some skin problems lately so I noticed the parts that were itchy. Great video, I'm going to open up a window now.
I counted to 105 I found myself skipping numbers but I caught myself otherwise I felt completely focused on the task of counting and asking myself if this is a dream
Curiosity was kinda the main player, i was focused the whole time until my brother asked me something. Now I can’t resist the curiosity of rewatching this and look if you put any secrets in the shut your eyes sequence
Lots of thoughts about the sounds outside and the things i did today, especially at the start and at the first gong. Even though all of the distracted thoughts, i kept my attention by nodding my head down between each number and "is this a dream". Was also telling the video to "shut up" during the distractions since they worked pretty well :)
I lost count a couple of times. My body would get a tingle that needed to be scratched but ignored it each time. I would get images in my head, and I let them come and go. I got a couple of nostalgic feelings, too.
So I was able to stay focused up and to about 22, then my mind started wandering a bit. I started worrying about my social life and classes a bit. Then I was able to focus a bit more, every new sound scared me a bit😂 I focused a bit more then my brain wondered to wierd thoughts related to fishing (I enjoy fishing a lot) but these were very interesting and specific situations. Then I continued to about 120 then time ran out.
Hey Daniel congrats on 60k! I counted up to 96, focusing on not losing the rhythm as a personal challenge. Even when I felt my rhythm slipping a bit, I tried to visualize the number and continued counting. I realized that this was much easier for me to concentrate on than when I'm at the gym, aiming to reach 12 repetitions, but I go from 5 to 9 or 3 to 8 🤣 without even noticing because I'm much more focused on the muscle contraction. Im aware that if i let my mind wanders when counting it will be like 1, 2, what i eat tonight, 6 🤣.
At some point i lost count and continued from where I thought I might have left off. I mostly just saw random images in my mind and started to become really relaxed. I thought I might fall asleep
I counted to 39, but noticed throughout the distractions and as time went on that my counting was slower and that I had to "force" myself to concentrate on my counting, so as to remind myself of what I'm supposed to be doing. I noticed at night when I try this practice my mind will drift away from counting and think about the day or ideas I have, often I'll have no idea what I'm thinking about when I fall asleep.
Great wow! Just expanded light body and gave radiance to all beings. And at end thought of what suffering this life is as old age disease and death set in especially for those who don’t mind the sacred during life…
My mind was wandering off a couple times and random hypnagogic images started to come, but I was able to pull back my focus and keep up the counting. To be honest, I lost track of the numbers a few times, too. 😅 Thank you for this video, it was actually really great as a little relaxation time as well. 🙂
My mind went through this pretty concentrate actually, even so over my struggles these days with my yet lame english and its improvement in progress, english is not my mother tongue anyway. However, i forced myself to count in english and, strangely and fortunately at the same time, it helped me to keep focus until 133 steps. Thanks Daniel always for your help and expertise.
Got through almost perfectly on brute willpower; the only other thought drifting through my head was the thought of how badly I wanted to 100% this first try. Reminds me of the intense focus I get when playing difficult, response time driven games. I got up to 127 before it cut off, without any sort of external indicator as to how long I'd been sitting here I was half-convinced I'd been accurately counting seconds... that five minutes seemed like the longest two minutes of my life.
I had an itch in my nose I thought about breifly, then I heard my brother move around and I thought about what he would say if he saw me sitting here with my eyes closed. I thought about whats distracted me so far. I though about how it would be bad timing if my dog walk in. I didnt let any sound effect distract me too much.
I mainly just visualised each number and the words "is this a dream?" In my head up against a night sky/space. I took it a bit slowly but i stayed on topic and counted. Occasionally my mind would think about a concept or like something in my life while i was still counting but after about second i brought my attentiok smoothly back to focusing on the numbers.
So I did this with earphones on. And like by count 33-34ish, my dog jumps onto my lap to make himself comfy. By count 79-81 my wife walked past and just stood there for a while ,I could kinda feel her presence in a way like you know when you're being watched. These distractions were perfect for this interactive video. Got to count 89
I mentally visualized a timer counting up in my mind and tried to mentally visualize "Is this a dream" after that, but couldn't, so I just mentally visualized text that was too small to read next to the counter and thought the words inside my head after every time I thought of the number counter going up. I counted up fairly fast at first, but I decided to slow down near the halfway point. Whenever a distracting noise played, my mind took notice and sometimes messed up counting a bit, but didn't get too distracted because I didn't form too many thoughts or feelings about the noises. I got to 109-is-this-a-dream before the session ended.
One of the first things my mind did was attribute my breathing pattern with each number - out on odds, in on evens. It started pretty early on, probably before I reached 10 (I counted up to 66). It helped me to focus and not loose track of what number I was on if I started to wander off. My brain around the 20s started trying to distract me by what happened today and that was me hyper fixating on my outfit I'm wearing to a Renn Faire. It kept trying to distract me by bringing it up (probably due to the fact that I got a bad headache from that hyper fixation today). Another thing that my brain did was trying to predict if my family was going to call for me to do something, which was a bit annoying. Proud to say I made it through though and it helped slightly with the headache! I've only achieved a WILD/MAD once and that was due to stress and anxiety. It was my first time home alone over the night and I was having anxiety over it, waking up due to it. On one of these wake-ups, I was still very much in the sleep headspace, and ended up falling into a dream immediately after I closed my eyes. While that lucid is something that still gives me the creeps (due to how my anxiety was feeding into it though I knew everything was fine). It's unfortunately something I haven't tried again due to that, but I would be willing to try again! I love these interactive videos. Not only is it nice to see other's experiences but it's also reassuring that there's no right or wrong answer!
My mind didn't distract me at all... I was imagining every number I was counting as tall buildings in various landscapes, and it worked just fine. I was pretty surprised by how fast these 5 minutes passed.
I counted the whole time, but I did accidentally repeat numbers a couple of times and may have accidentally skipped a few. The reason is that as I was counting, I couldn't help but acknowledge my increased pulse and tingling feet. The music and the question I kept asking gave me vague thoughts about lucid dreaming and other ethereal-feeling things. All of my thoughts excluding a couple times I thought about the length of the task were related to immediate stimulants and sensations.
I listened for what the coming distractions would be. Noted the addition of piano, noted the ging at the minute mark and assumed that each 1 of my counts equaled about 2 seconds of real time. I found I list track of which number I was on, “was that 27 28 or 29 no I already said 27…”
very difficult. I have tried and I also want to have more focus I sometimes do meditation where I only count to 100 and only focus on that. to keep my mind calm. Unfortunately, ADHD is somewhat counterproductive. but my brain does strengthen my focus with meditation.
Firstly, thanks for being brilliant Jim! If it helps, remember that the goal isn't to have a mind like everyone else, only to learn to understand and navigate your own unique mental landscape. A practice like this will vary in how challenging it is between individuals, but the core purpose is to gain your own insights.
At some point i switched from counting in english to counting in hungarian, then for some reason i was counting in your voice, then i started stressing about the million things that are going wrong in my life, then i started imagining potential scenarios for other distractions, but surprisingly i managed to count to 86 without any major confusions, which is weird considering i have never managed to do wild
Distraction 1: thinking about your video on clickbate titles. Distraction 2: thinking about what to write in the comments. Other distraction: thinking about mi first distraction.
My consciousness wandered off two or three times, so I had to think for a moment about where I was with the counting and I had to grin when the phone rang, which you recorded. But otherwise it was ok and I was able to keep my consciousness focused.
91 Is this a dreams? The hardest part is I would occasionally lose my count, which I knew would happen as I’ve done something similar to this before, but I don’t judge it, pick the count back up and keep going. I also felt somewhat tired and relaxed, which is probably a good thing. 5 minutes at least of meditation a day is also recommended in a recent book I read for Wizards. I am a Wizard. I do not meditate every day but I do it most days of the week lately. I went through a period of being addicted to meditation before I found this channel 2 years ago and it got me out of 1 of the cults I’d been in. I’m no longer addicted to meditation and do it more constructively now. I can’t remember the name of the book rn, but I will link the 5 minute meditation song that was at the very end of the recent occult audio book I enjoyed.
Got to 120, slowed down near the end, breathing sometimes syncs up with counting, I occasionally get the numbers wrong, I often wait for the gongs, music was nice. I already do this occasionally so I had an advantage :p
I didn't get distracted from thoughts until its gets '90 is this a dream', i didn't even realize that i wad distracted by my own thought, after a few seconds, i started to count rest
I got to "54, is this a dream" My thoughts were on the gong, First at 14, then 28, so is this a pattern? then at 39 then 52. But such concentration would only keep me awake if I were trying for a WILD.
I was able to come back to the counting every time I got a little distracted. I noticed it was mostly because of noticing bodily sensations like an itch, which threw me off counting, which held me for a few seconds before I could convince myself that the actual count itself does not matter. Then I continued. Happened a few times.
My mind sometimes miscounted, and the bell noises was creepy, but with the phone rings, and knockings, my mind was kinda supporting and said don't listen, it will distract you.
I got to "68 is this a dream" but the numbers occasionally became slippery and my mind had to go back and check what the last number was. A few images and thoughts drifted through my field of awareness but I mainly stayed focused on the counting.
After the second gong, when the music changed, I got a little distracted and almost forgot what number I last counted, but I think I did pretty well. I actually tried this technique a few times, but I was saying 1 I'm dreaming, 2 I'm dreaming etc., like Stephen LaBerge's book suggested. Sometimes I counted even to 400, but I always got insomnia and couldn't fall asleep. Any tips on how to not get insomnia and fall asleep, while still remaining focused on the counting? Btw I love these interactive videos. You should make more of them
I was counting, but I found myself distracted by thoughts of random things, including memories, future tasks, and movies I've watched. I would always try to pull my focus back to counting, but I found it somewhat difficult
I got up to 80… it seems as time went on my counting became slower… sometimes I said the same number twice before moving on… was aware of the “distraction” noises from your video but it didn’t interfere with my process
I did much better than I expected -- this was easier than just counting breaths or following/observing the breath. (The ringing-phone/ring-tone sounds were a sneaky trick, but I handled those pretty well.) I'm assuming the RU-vid Adverts that popped up at the beginning _weren't_ part of the exercise. (They were really awful, grifting woo-drenched twaddle, too -- if that was part of the exercise, you're a real meanie.)
At first I got distracted about my health, I often times worry about it, then I had to remind myself that I was okay After that I tried to start worrying about my safety, again I had to remind myself that I am safe, this is my own house with locks and such, something I'm still not used to After my mind drifted off into my own universe a bit, and for a moment I thought I heard 'this is a dream' repeated in my head, it's crazy but this seems like it could very much work
I did good, I didn't really get distracted per se but (while I was still counting) I did start thinking about dreams I've had recently, unfortunately for me I tend to have a lot of nightmares so some of them I don't really want to recall, which is part of why I'm invested in lucid dreaming because it helps me either end my nightmares or guide them towards having a positive dream, the other part of why I do it is just cause it's awesome and fun. Fun fact I'm not sure why I have so many nightmares, I'm a pretty chill guy and while of course I have problems like everybody else I don't believe I'm a particularly troubled individual and have pretty good self esteem and emotional control, so it's kind of interesting and still I don't know why it happens so often
I counted the only thing that I would say is that I was concentrated more on counting than the meaning of the words am I dreaming. Which probably isn’t so good for noticing what’s going on with my mind beyond that no thoughts except for doing as instructed.
So I was able to keep counting throughout the whole period but I did notice that at one point I was still counting but I wasn't actually thinking of counting if that makes sense. I was actually thinking of your other video where you mention that being too focused during a WILD attempt can cause insomnia before I quickly returned to focusing on the counting.
I was doing the exercise while traveling by train. My mind was quite quiet, with no strong thoughts. For a few times I was not sure whether I was proceeding or repeating the same number. I noticed i was unable to breathe in a relaxed way, I could not help but breathe in the rhythm of the counting, which was quite fast and thus uncomfortable. I could have slowed down the counting but i did not think of it 😅
Hmm, didn't you post this exercise before? anyway, as requested, I am long time meditator so was able to stay on task, counted 64 'am I dreaming's and thought I heard 4 or 5 gongs; only one distraction for a couple of seconds, thinking about a talk I have to give tomorrow... thanks for the exercise opportunity
